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Brown Sugar

I'm sure most of you hate the thought of hard blocks of brown sugar. I used to buy brown sugar and just chuck it in the fridge after opening, which led to scraping around the blocks of hardened sugar or banging it against the counter whenever I needed to use it.

I figured it was time to consult my best friend, Google, when I bought a new packet of brown sugar. I read there are some ways to soften already hardened brown sugar like putting a piece of bread or a slice of apple in the bag, but I just bought a packet full of soft brown sugar. The easiest way to keep it soft was to leave it in the freezer.

So I dumped all the brown sugar in an empty ice-cream container (I seem to have a lot of those in my cupboard :p) and kept it in the freezer. It's amazing! It really does stay soft, and I love how easy it is to measure out a cup when I need it for baking.

Brown sugar in the freezer = awesomeness!

Homemade Ice Cream

Since the weather was getting hot, I decided baking time is over (for a while). I scoured the net for easy ice-cream recipes that I could make without an ice-cream maker. I try to avoid buying kitchen equipment that can only do one thing because I don't like clutter.

Anyway, I found recipes where you make a custard on the stovetop and then freeze, but then you had to check and whisk it every half-hour or so. I was feeling quite lazy to do that and just wanted a yummy and EASY recipe.

Then I found the holy grail. Who knew, just 3 simple ingredients could make a lovely vanilla ice-cream? And all you had to do was mix it and chuck it in the freezer for 6 hours before it's ready! No stovetop required. No checking in every 30 minutes. No nothing. So simple!

I decided to make just plain vanilla and if I wanted anything fancy in it, I'd just mix it in before eating. That way my ice-cream will be more versatile.


Easy Homemade Ice Cream without a Machine
Recipe from Kevin and Amanda (thanks guys!)

2 cups heavy cream
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 vanilla pod or 1-2 tsp vanilla extract

Pour the condensed milk into your ice cream container (I used one of the commercial ice cream containers I had in my cupboard), and then mix in the vanilla.

Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Use a mixer if you have one. I was only armed with a large balloon whisk and metal bowl, so I got a pretty good arm workout. A blender works too (my friend tried it!).

Fold the whipped cream into your ice cream container. Cover and freeze for 6 hours or until set. I did it the night before and had a lovely ice cream dessert for lunch the next day :)

Everyone who tried the ice-cream could NOT believe the ingredients and they all agreed it was creamy and better than commercial ice-cream. It's amazing! Try it and let your friends think you had to slave away in the kitchen without an ice-cream maker :p

My father-in-law had a bowl and told me to throw away the recipe as it was ruining his diet. He didn't want me to make it anymore. Little does he know how simple it is. The ingredients are already etched in my brain :)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

My sister loves Nestle Toll House's recipe. While I was trying to find a better recipe, I stumbled upon this. It's the same Nestle recipe which uses 1/2 the butter! Anything that lessens butter but tastes the same should be good, right? So, I tried the recipe and fell in love. I'm going to forever use this! It's a keeper.

Interesting thing I learnt:

• Since it uses less butter, the cookies don't spread out much while baking. Thus, whatever shape you put on the pan prior to baking will come out about the same after it's done! I love that. So I get to shape it nicely or have a rustic look (because I'm just lazy :p), etc.

@nestlefoodie’s Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Recipe from Chris Garboski, adapted from the Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe  (copied from La Fuji Mama - you can get the printable version from her site)

Makes 60 cookies  

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened 

3/4 cup granulated sugar 

3/4 cup packed brown sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 large eggs 

2 cups (12-ounce package) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips  

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.  In a separate large mixer bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until the dough is creamy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating the dough well after each addition.  Gradually beat in the flour mixture.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Scoop out rounded tablespoons of dough and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.  

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes and then remove the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Yum! The same goodness with lesser fat and calories! Yay!

Cheesecake Brownies

I love brownies! They taste so good and you'll feel so bad for eating them. But once you finish the pan, you just crave for more. Sigh..

Sometimes just having brownies isn't enough, and that's when you need to have a delicious layer of cheesecake on top. Yum!

Cheesecake Brownies
I used the cheesecake recipe from Almost Bourdain and the brownie recipe from Desert Candy. I silently stalk these blogs (but now that I've linked them, they'll know who their silent stalker is :p).

1 stick (8 tbsp, 4 oz, 113g) butter
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
1 cup sugar (all white sugar, or half white/half brown sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
pince salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder


Cheesecake:
285 g (10 oz) cream cheese
4 1/2 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs

(I doubled the recipe and baked in a 9x13" pan for 35-40 mins.)

Preheat the oven to 350F, grease an 8" square baking pan lined with non-stick baking paper or aluminum foil. On top of a double boiler, or in the microwave, melt together the butter and the chocolate. Let the mixture cool slightly, stir in sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then fold in the flour and cocoa powder. Pour into prepared pan.

To make the cheesecake, whisk the cream cheese, sugar and eggs until smooth. Place large spoonfuls of the cheesecake mixture on top of the chocolate mixture and swirl with a butter knife.

Bake in the oven 18-20 mins. Immediately move the pan to the freezer or to an ice bath for about five minutes to stop the cooking, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 16 - 2 inch squares.

Hummingbird Cake

It seems like my earlier posts are all about health and vegetables. I may sound like a health freak by now but I'm actually not because I LOOOVE eating cake and ice-cream!

I baked my first cake when I was about 6 or 7. My sister and I had this children's cookbook which we pored over and made all kinds of cookies -- chocolate chip, honey, zebra, etc. We loved baking together with our mom and it was great quality time.

I hadn't been baking a lot in such a long time since then and only started again recently. Thus the reason for the existence of this food blog -- to keep record of the recipes I like and will refer to in the future.

My first attempt to start baking again had me reading a hummingbird cake recipe. It's really easy but you just have to get your butt to the supermarket unless you always have plenty of pecans, canned pineapples and bananas lying around your kitchen.

Hummingbird Cake
from Joy of Baking

1 cup (110 grams) pecans, toasted and finely chopped
3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour
2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup (180 ml) safflower, corn, or canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) can crushed pineapple, do not drain
2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-4 medium sized bananas)


Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting: 
1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound box (454 grams) (about 3 2/3 cups) confectioners (powdered or icing)sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (55 grams) finely chopped pecans


Garnish: (Optional) pecan halves



Hummingbird Cake: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven.
Butter or spray two - 9 x 2 inch (23 x 5 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of parchment paper.

Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop finely.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.

In another large bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, pineapple, mashed bananas, and finely chopped pecans. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes invert the cakes onto the wire rack, remove the pans and parchment paper, and then cool completely before frosting.


Frosting: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and cream cheese, on low speed, until very smooth with no lumps. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract and then stir in the finely chopped pecans.


To assemble: Place one cake, top side down, onto your serving platter. Spread with about a third of the frosting. Gently place the other cake layer, top of cake facing up, onto the frosting, and spread the rest of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish with pecan halves. Refrigerate the cake for about one hour so the frosting has time to set.

Serves 10 - 12 people.


Notes: 

• I tend to find that most frosting recipes online uses waaaaayyyy too much sugar for me! So I usually start with 1/2 cup and gradually add on from there. 
• I have done this cake with toasting the pecans and also without. They both worked fine and I couldn't tell the difference, but I'm no MasterChef.
• You can even make them in cupcake cups. Can't remember how many cups I got though.

The Microwave is My Friend

I like using the microwave to heat and de-frost food because it's fast and convenient, but I haven't actually used it to cook a dish. I have however tried 3 desserts using the microwave, but that will be for a different blog post.

I also avoid frying food. Especially deep-frying. I find that I'm sensitive to oily food and will feel sick if I eat too much of it (which isn't that much). I don't try to be THAT healthy, but my body just makes me.

So, besides WHFoods, I also like to read Science Daily for more info on healthy food and cooking.

Here are some very interesting and informative articles:

Antioxidant Levels In Cooked Vegetables Vary With Cooking Method -- Healthier To Griddle-Cook Or Microwave

This article shows that these methods make the highest loss of antioxidant for:

• Cauliflower - don't boil and microwave

• Peas - don't boil

• Zucchini - don't boil and fry  

Green beans, beets, garlic - keep their antioxidant levels after most cooking treatments (boiling, pressure-cooking, baking, microwaving, griddling and frying). 

Vegetables that increase their antioxidant levels after all cooking methods - Green beans (except after boiling), celery and carrots. 

Artichoke - the only vegetable that kept its high antioxidant level during all cooking methods. 

Griddle and microwave cooking helped maintain the highest levels of antioxidants, produced the lowest losses while "pressure-cooking and boiling [led] to the greatest losses".

Culinary Shocker: Cooking Can Preserve, Boost Nutrient Content Of Vegetables

Boiling and steaming maintains the antioxidant compounds of vegetables. 

Frying causes a significantly higher loss of antioxidants in comparison to the water-based cooking methods.

Now, I'm glad I don't like frying and fried food, but my family loves french fries. Glad to find out that Microwave Pre-Cooking Of French Fries Reduces Cancer Chemicals

The discovery of acrylamide - a possible carcinogenic in humans -- has led to much research being done to investigate the benefits of alternative cooking methods. Acrylamide forms during processes such as frying, baking and roasting where high-temperature and low-moisture conditions exist.  

Although numerous studies have been conducted to explore the possibilities of reducing acrylamide levels in French fries, a team of researchers from Turkey has shown that by reducing the frying time and hence the acrylamide formation by microwave pre-cooking of potato strips prior to frying. 

The researches showed that microwave application prior to frying resulted in a marked reduction of the acrylamide level in the surface region. When the potato strips were subjected to frying after a microwave pre-cooking step, acrylamide content in the whole potato strip was reduced by 36%, 41% and 60% for frying at 150, 170 and 190oC respectively. 

"Microwaving French fries before cooking takes little time and in fact, microwave pre-cooked samples fried to the same degree of cooking appeared to have a more acceptable colour, probably due to the more gentle heat treatment they experienced during frying," says lead author Koray Palazoglu, of the University of Mersin, Turkey.